


the darkest of skies (looking for angels)

by carrotycake



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: Force Unleashed - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, there is some crossposting of old fic from ff.net
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-17
Updated: 2019-03-04
Packaged: 2019-06-12 04:59:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15332316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carrotycake/pseuds/carrotycake
Summary: A collection of all my Force Unleashed-related drabbles. Predominantly Juno/Galen (Starkiller)-centric but there are some general ones in there too. Some are old crossposts from my ff.net collection "Here With You", some are more recent!





	1. Awakening

**Author's Note:**

> This is going to be my new place for putting my Force Unleashed drabbles and unrelated tidbits from other fics! I've cross-posted most of my longer Force Unleashed stories here but never got around to posting any from "Here With You" - I began writing that in 2013 and whilst my writing style has definitely changed and improved since then, I'm still proud of a couple chapters, so I'll be posting them first. I still love the Force Unleashed to bits (and haven't abandoned my longer fic, I promise!) so this is my attempt to get back into writing after a long long period of writers block!!
> 
> Anyway, I'm definitely rambling now, so I'll get on with it. Enjoy! x

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Domestic bliss, at least for a little while.

Lie-ins were a luxury, especially on days like this.

“Come on,” murmured Galen, pressing a quick kiss to Juno’s forehead. “We need to get up. Rebel business, remember?”

Juno yawned and stretched, twisting the sheets around them as her muscles cracked. She rolled away from him, pulling most of the covers with her. “Just five more minutes.”

“You said that five minutes ago.”

“Yes, well...I was wrong.”

“Juno Eclipse, wrong? Never!” scoffed Galen, scooting closer to her under the covers and draping an arm over her waist. She responded to his jibe by elbowing him sharply and he laughed, revelling in the sheer normality of it all. He didn’t think he’d ever spent more than a couple of days planetside with Juno before; their sleeping schedules previously had been erratic, centred around the working hours of ships and Rebel bases. Now that they had a regular schedule, he found that they were still learning things about each other, despite having known each other for the best part of six years.

Most notably the fact that Juno was _not_ a morning person.

“Shut _up,”_ she muttered, whacking him (gently) with a pillow. He flopped back over to his side of the bed – that was a thing now, too – and turn to look at her.

“You know I’m right,” he smirked, as Juno attempted to burrow herself further under the covers. He reached a hand under the blanket and found exposed skin at her waist where her shirt had ridden up. She writhed at his touch, muffled laughter arising from the pile of blankets.

“Your – hands – are – _freezing!”_ she gasped, trying not to laugh, “And – _ticklish...”_

She jabbed a hand into his side and suddenly he buckled, his whole body tensing up. She did it again, and Galen felt laughter bubbling in his throat. “What – what are you doing?”

Juno stopped and sat up, her blonde hair dishevelled and the blankets cloaked messily around her in a heap. “You’ve never been tickled before?”

“I – no. My only guardian growing up was PROXY, and he was usually trying to kill me, not...whatever you called it.”

“Tickling?” supplied Juno, an impish smile appearing on her face. Galen was trying to register what she was smiling at, when suddenly it was too late and she was on top of him, her fingers roaming his body and making him twitch involuntarily. He tried to stop the laughter, and only partly succeeded as Juno’s hands – which were also very cold – attacked him from all sides.

“S-stop, stop, I give up,” he wheezed, ribs sore from laughing. Juno ceased her attack, and instead placed both of her hands on the sides of his face and pulled herself forward to kiss him. He managed to free his arms from the tangle of sheets and placed his hands around her waist, feeling his cool hands against her warm, bare skin. He relished the taste of her lips against his, the way they moved against him. They kissed for a while, slow and languid, before Juno reluctantly pulled away.

“Five minutes is up,” she breathed, snickering softly at the look on his face. Galen frowned, recognising his own words thrown back at him. Juno patted him gently on the cheek before rolling of off him and swinging her legs on to the floor. Galen, too, sat up, and pulled Juno back for one last kiss before they had to get up for the day.

“You’re getting soft,” Juno smiled against his mouth, leaning her forehead against his for a moment before pulling away and standing up. He watched her go for a moment, one last pause in his morning routine before duty stole both of them away from each other for the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was actually written c.2015/16 but I never posted it for some reason?? let these two be happy gdi


	2. Medic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Galen finds himself playing medic and Juno is more than happy to let him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cross-posted from my profile on ff.net. I'm, uh, not including my original 2014 author's note bc it's a little cringey. If you're desperate to find the originals, they're all still up there on the ol' fanfiction-dot-net so knock yourselves out ;D
> 
> Set just after The Force Unleashed 2.

They had been in hyperspace for – Galen checked his chrono – five hours. Running supply missions for the Rebels was perhaps not his favourite pastime, but it did mean that he got to spend time with a certain, rather beautiful, pilot. They were sitting together in the cockpit, Juno in the pilot’s seat performing calculations. He enjoyed watching her work, watching her eyes dance through the complicated sums and numbers as she pressed buttons and tapped keys. The pilot in question, however, was now looking at him questioningly, waving a hand as if to jolt him out of a daydream.

“Hello? Anyone there?” Oops. He hadn’t realised that she had said anything.

“Uh. Sorry.” He shook his head. “I was miles away.”

Juno raised an eyebrow. “I thought as much. I was just saying,” she glared at him in mock-annoyance, “that the Rebels seemed to have made a lot of progress in the past couple of weeks, since Kamino.”

Galen nodded in agreement. Juno continued, “I mean, we have the Mon Calamari on our side now, and several more worlds affiliated with Dac have also voiced their support and promised us ships.” She was smiling as she said it, her eyes focused once again on the hyperspace calculations. She looked happy, and Galen was glad. Between the two of them, they had endured enough misery to last a lifetime.

“Seems the Rebels will finally be able to do more, now,” he commented, watching as Juno finished plotting the next hyperspace jump. “You know, instead of sitting around, arguing.”

Juno chuckled. “Ugh. Bureaucracy. Every pilot’s worst nightmare.” She leaned back in her chair, finally relaxing after a long day of shifting crates and various supplies. Since her command, the _Salvation,_ had been destroyed over Kamino, Juno hadn’t yet been re-instated at the helm of a new ship.

She didn’t appear to mind, particularly; if – when – she was posted to a new ship, they would hardly ever see each other, so they were both making use of the time they had in the present. Galen smiled at her comment, and looked out of the viewport again at the blue, streaked stars of hyperspace. He noticed, vaguely, that Juno seemed more restless than usual. Her figures tapped agitatedly on the helm, occasionally straying to her shoulder, which she rubbed, wincing.

 “Right,” she said suddenly, “Would you be able to watch the helm for a second?” She had stood up and was making her way to the back of the cockpit.

“Uh, sure. What are you doing?” Galen frowned, quizzically. Juno shrugged, rubbing her shoulder absent-mindedly as she rifled through various cupboards.

“Medical supplies,” she replied. Galen gestured to the shoulder she had been rubbing.

“Still painful?” he asked. She looked at him for a moment, hesitating, and then finally nodded quietly.

“A little. I, um…I need to change my bandage,” She held up some primitive-looking medical supplies, “As you can see, we’re running a little low.”

“Oh. Here. Let me do that, then.” Galen gestured to the roll of bandage that Juno held in one hand. She looked at him, surprised, but handed over the supplies and sat down in the jump seat behind him.

“This is unexpected,” she said, shrugging off her uniform jacket and revealing the bandage on her right shoulder, where she had been shot by Boba Fett some weeks earlier. “But welcome,” she added, giving him a brief smile.

Gingerly, Galen swiveled his chair to be beside her with the ship’s medical kit and began peeling the bandage off. Juno flinched, but said nothing as he revealed the wound. It was nasty; puckered and scarred, it clearly hadn’t seen any bacta since they left Kamino.

“Well, it’s sort of my fault that our medical supplies are so poor. And I think I’ve got some experience with this sort of thing,” he replied, fishing some antiseptic out of the medical kit and dabbing some on her shoulder.

“Ow – yes, I suppose you have,” she shook her head, smiling at him. “I appreciate this, you know. Ouch – even if it doesn’t – ah – sound like it right now.”

“Sorry,” he apologised, as she flinched again, “Why didn’t you get some bacta on this at the time? Might’ve saved you all of this bother.” He was now wrapping the fresh bandage around the wound, conscious of how close he was to Juno. She met his eyes, and something in the air seemed to change. Clearly, he wasn’t the only one getting a little distracted by the whole situation.

“I don’t know,” said Juno slowly, “Somehow this…bother…doesn’t seem so bad, in the long run.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, we don’t get an awful lot of privacy on this ship, do we? Right now, we have Kota and his entire squad aboard. The mission before last, we were carrying a few Senators and some important documents. Moments like this…they’re few and far between.”

Galen finished placing the bandage, and fixed it so that it wouldn’t loosen or fall off. “Even when you’re in excruciating pain and I’m having to play medic?”

Juno made a noise somewhere between laughter and exasperation. “For the record, I did not _ask_ you to help.”

Galen smiled reluctantly. “I know. I just – seeing you like this makes me feel…slightly helpless, I think.”

“Brings out your compassionate side, hmm?”

He raised his eyebrows at her, rising to the bait. “Something like that. Now…there we go. One bandage, replaced. Anything else ailing you, Captain?”

Juno stood up, stretching out her arms and testing out her new bandage gingerly. “Not as far as I can tell. Unless you can…recommend something.”

Galen smiled, also standing up, and slid an arm around her waist. “Perhaps not…here. We could continue this conversation somewhere more…private, though.”

This time it was Juno’s turn to raise her eyebrows. “My, my. I’ve never seen you so…outspoken before.” She smiled playfully at him, and he took that opportunity to pull her closer and kiss her. However, their moment was suddenly interrupted by the arrival of General Kota and one of his men entering the cockpit. Breaking apart, Juno attempted to look nonchalant, and Galen tried to ignore the blush steadily creeping up his face. Kota coughed, gruffly.

“Ahem. Just came to see if we’ve made the next jump to hyperspace yet.”

“Ah,” Juno moved to the navicomp and typed in some commands, ever the professional. “No, not yet. Another hour and fifty-three minutes, I’m afraid.”

“Right,” said Kota, evidently aware of the moment he was interrupting, “That’s all. Thank you, Juno.”

He left, his militia following behind him, and the door slid shut again. Galen looked over at Juno to see her stifling a giggle, and found himself – unusually – smiling broadly too.

“Phew,” he said, after their sniggering had subsided, “That was…incredibly awkward to endure.” Juno nodded, her face as red as his. “Still…” he continued, “An hour and fifty-three minutes?”

Juno looked at the navicomp again. “An hour and fifty-two now, actually,” she replied, deadpan.

They looked at each other for a moment, each anticipating the other to make the first move. In the end, they collided together almost at the same time, and Galen felt his heart rate increase. “Better make the most of it, then,” he breathed, before Juno kissed him again.

“You’re a terrible doctor,” she muttered, pressing her forehead against his for a moment, before pulling away, “Meet me in my quarters in two minutes?”

“Lead the way,” said Galen, squeezing her hand. He, for one, was glad of Rebel supply runs, if not for moments like this.


	3. Apologies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Betrayal doesn't hurt Juno much anymore, but this one hurts more than most.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set during The Force Unleashed. (Poor Juno...)

_Don’t explain yourself ‘cause talk is cheap_

* * *

He stares at her with something that could be regret. She isn’t sure, anymore. One last remark – _please, don’t make me leave another life behind –_ and then she is gone, running to her cabin. She is surprised by the tears that spring to her eyes; she is surprised by her attachment.

It had started as just another job, and then he had come back for her, against orders. Striking up an unusual friendship with him wasn’t something she had anticipated; the burgeoning romantic feelings even less so.

_His hand, still covered in grime from the last mission, reaches for her, and she pushes it away._

She sits heavily on her bunk, thankful for the momentary peace. Her thoughts are a mess; two conflicting edges of an argument that she had been over, many times, in her head.

He lied to her, that much is certain. He had been lying, or at least omitting truths, ever since she had first set foot on the _Rogue Shadow._ But he was also, more recently, lying to himself, and that bothered Juno even more. She had blindly followed this man to the ends of the galaxy and back, because she felt she owed him that; what good was her commitment when he didn’t know himself why he was doing it?

There is a gentle knock at her door, and she jumps. She ignores it, mostly out of spite, and because she is still angry.

“Juno? It’s...me,” he finishes, lamely. Juno remembers that she doesn’t know his name, and wonders if _he_ even does. She leans her head against the door, exhaling softly.

“For what it’s worth...” he begins, and there’s a short pause. Juno imagines him wringing his scarred hands together, but reminds herself that she doesn’t mean anything to him. “...I’m sorry.”

She wants to reply, but instead takes a step back from the door.

The words _“I’m sorry”_ echo around her head from the past – former comrades, ex-lovers, her father (the first and only time) – and now they don’t mean anything. Empty words, in place of feelings.

And yet somehow, there is something in his words that make her think he might be genuine. She remembers that he was – is? – a Sith apprentice, master of lies and deceit. She thinks that the universe is cruel in its irony.

She is so confused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another crosspost, this time from October 2016. Told myself I was done with songfic and yet....I can't stop myself....
> 
> Also I realise that this will have come up as three separate updates as I throw chapters onto this all at once. If you're recieving email notifications about this - firstly you should know that I love you, and that I promise to write more, and secondly I apologise for the email spam. I want to get all the old chapters up so I can write new things!
> 
> Lastly, if you would like to yell at me on tumblr about these two, I'm around on either itsacuriousthing or carrotycake, take your pick :D


	4. Feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Starkiller hasn't often had the chance to think about "feelings". And Juno is more curious than she'd like to admit about his past. The two share a conversation that leads both nowhere and further than they initially thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello again! another crosspost, this one is a little more recent at least :P i  
> set around the time that they're hunting for shaak ti in the first game. as always, comments etc are much appreciated! x
> 
> edit (27/10/18): i'm a dumbass who posts work not realising its unfinished lmao. anyway this has an ending now. thank u for putting up with me <3

“Don’t you wish-” Juno stopped herself, abruptly, before she overstepped her boundaries. She was just the pilot, after all. Nothing more, nothing less. If she was lucky, she would get through this job without dying. However, the illusive Starkiller had hearing like a hawk, and reflexes to match.

“What?” he whipped round to face her, frowning.

“Nothing. I...I didn’t mean anything.”

“You were about to say something.”

She sighed. “I was going to ask – if you minded being ordered around by Darth Vader all the time. You don’t give me the impression that you enjoy doing his dirty work.”

This was clear insubordination, and they both knew it. However, Starkiller merely opened and closed his mouth a few times, his expression momentarily conflicted.

“It’s none of your business,” he muttered, striding out of the cockpit and leaving Juno to her piloting.

 _You’re making it my business,_ she thought to herself, leaning back in her chair. _I’m stuck here, same as you._

 

* * *

 

 

Juno’s words echoed around Galen’s head as he attempted to meditate in the training room. Again and again, the parts of his lightsaber clattered to the floor as he tried not to think about it.

_You don’t give me the impression that you enjoy doing his dirty work._

She was completely out of line, but her words bothered him more than mere insubordination would. No-one had ever asked him what he had thought before. His opinion wasn’t something that had been given reason to be noted. In the eyes of most people, he was anonymous. In the eyes of Vader, he was merely a pawn in a dangerous political game that even he didn’t fully understand. To PROXY, he was a target whose death would fulfil their primary programming.

To Juno, though, he was a person, and the very notion of this confused him. Vader would likely kill him for having his own thoughts.

Sighing, he returned to his meditations. This wasn’t a problem that could be solved overnight.

 

* * *

 

 

“I have a question.”

Juno sat up from under the dashboard, where she’d been tinkering with come control panels. She hadn’t heard Starkiller enter, but then she never did. He was too quiet, and it unsettled her.

“Yes?”

“I’ve been thinking about what you asked yesterday.”

“That’s not a question.” Juno wasn’t particularly in the mood for games, especially not when they were all cooped up together in the middle of a series of long hyperspace jumps.

“I know. I’m getting to it.” He sounded annoyed, but he didn’t leave. _Which is something_ , Juno thought.

“Well, I’m listening.”

“You asked me if I... _minded_...being Vader’s apprentice. If I disliked it.” The words didn’t come naturally to him, that much was certain. “The truth is, I-I don’t know. You are the first person who’s ever asked me that.”

 _Oh._ That caught Juno off guard. _He’s had seven pilots before you,_ her mind helpfully supplied. She sat up properly on the pilot’s chair, clearing away her tools and motioning for him to sit in the co-pilot’s seat.

“You mean – no-one’s ever asked you how you felt? About anything?”

He shrugged uncomfortably. “Feelings are irrelevant.”

Juno didn’t like this, not one bit. “How old are you?”

Another shrug. “I don’t know. I don’t remember.”

“Oh.” She must have softened, because he suddenly glared at her.

“And I don’t need your sympathy!” he snapped, folding his arms. Juno raised her hands.

“Okay, okay. Calm down.”

They sat in silence for several minutes, Juno fiddling with the controls, fine-tuning them; Starkiller, just sitting. They had been flying together on Vader’s missions now for several weeks, and Juno was always surprised at how still, how _silent_ he could be. For someone who was so destructive and powerful on missions (she had seen his work first-hand, judging by the lightsabers he brought back), he was unpredictably quiet when on the ship with her.

“How old are _you?”_ The question came out of nowhere. Juno frowned at him.

“Why?”

“You asked me. I thought...that was how conversation worked.”

She almost smiled.

“I suppose it is. I’m twenty-one, then.”

He nods. “That’s young for a fighter pilot. When PROXY read out your file, he mentioned-”

“That I was the youngest graduate in the Academy? That’ll be why, then.”

“Huh.”

More silence. Juno didn’t mind, particularly. Perhaps this job wasn’t as bad as she had initially feared.

“That’s impressive.”

Her head snapped back to look at Starkiller. She had presumed the conversation was over, judging by his demeanour, and yet – he looked uncomfortable, of course – but he wasn’t just speaking to give her orders. For once.

She half-smiled, bemused. “Impressive?”

He nodded, once; arms folded. “According to most Imperial records, the average age of pilots entering the academy is between seventeen and twenty. You were fourteen.”

Starkiller says this matter-of-factly, as if Juno’s skill is a fact, a mere statement as opposed to something worthy of his awe.

Somehow, she prefers this to the empty praise she received from her superiors back at the Academy. Praise intended, then, to give the new pilots too much pride, too much of a sense of their own importance.

She doesn’t tell him this though, settling instead on a curt nod.

Accepting her silence as approval, Starkiller settles back into his chair, returning to his earlier activity of staring moodily out of the front viewport. Juno watches the stars reflect on his eyes and wonders, not for the first time, what he is thinking about.

She doubts she’ll ever understand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is probably the last of the cross-posting from ffnet for now! i love the rest of those one-shots and stories dearly but I feel like the writing style and general feel of them doesn't fit how i write now. all my old stories are still sitting on my profile there though if you're interested! but it's on to other new and hopefully good things from now on! 
> 
> and yes....i will be updating Blank Page soon, i promise...it's been a year and a half but i'm working on that chapter as i post this! [insert praying hands emoji here]


	5. near-misses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Galen and Juno finally get the chance to talk a little more; post-TFU2.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> listen sometimes we just need some good old-fashioned introspective fluff!!! as i was writing this i became aware that it's very much veering, content-wise, into the territory of a TFU fic i wrote back in 2012/13 but uh. i'm choosing to ignore that
> 
> anyways i hope you enjoy this small piece of fluff! i've been feeling a bit lost lately in terms of writing but i'm hoping to get back into it soon :)

There were many advantages to taking the long way round the Hydian hyperspace route, Juno decided. One, it gave them ample opportunity to shake off any Imperials that may have been tailing them, and kept their precious cargo safe. Two, it meant plenty of time to catch up with Galen, and – in his words – “chart their near-misses”. Which, considering the events of recent days, was turning out to be much more interesting than Juno had expected.

“So…you followed me all the way from Cato Neimodia to Dac to Malastare to Nordra?” she asked him, a slight smile of incredulity on her face; counting off her fingers bemusedly. They were in the cockpit, Juno nursing a cup of caf and Galen sitting across from her in the co-pilot’s seat. Her feet were resting on the dashboard, and she felt relaxed, for the first time in a long while. There were other, better social areas aboard the _Rogue Shadow_ , but they both preferred the blinking lights and the humming of the engine. Galen grimaced at the question.

“You make it sound very noble,” he muttered, shrugging. Juno shrugged.

“That’s because it kind of is.” She sipped at her caf, her casual exterior hiding more than she was letting on. They hadn’t – well, they hadn’t had an awful lot of time to discuss their relationship (whatever that meant), given how things had ended last time. Admittedly, she had kind of sprang the kiss on him as a surprise. She hadn’t been sure she was going to do it until her lips were actually on his, and then he was falling to the Death Star, and then he had _died._ And then she had almost died, and now they were here. It was an awful lot to take in.

Galen nodded at her arm. “How does it feel?”

She pressed at the bandages gingerly, feeling a sharp jab of pain jolt through her as she did so. “Could be worse, I suppose.” She fixed him with a suspicious look. “You’re deflecting.”

At this, he gave a half-smile. “Old habits.”

Juno had a million and one questions. She had heard whispers – seen Galen’s clones – and she had seen him _die_ , for crying out loud. Not that she cared about any of this; Galen was back, and the rest was just superficial, in her books. She just wanted to hear him say it. To let him talk about it.

“You haven’t changed, then,” she said, “Even after all this time.”

“How – how long was I away? Kota, uh, never actually said.”

Juno watched as he looked at his hands, clasped together tightly. He was staring resolutely out of the viewport, perhaps already anticipating the answer to his question.

“A year,” she replied, simply. Galen swore, the syllables sounding unnatural in his mouth; he spat them out like a foreign language, and it surprised Juno.

“Sorry,” he said, “I – I didn’t realise. I was conscious... _awake..._ but I couldn’t – I didn’t remember. Vader, he – I was his prisoner. He had training droids, like PROXY but a newer model, and he...” Galen swallowed, his throat working. “He made them take the image of – of you. And that triggered all these memories, so I – I didn’t destroy it as I was ordered to. I couldn’t.”

Juno said nothing, studying his face as he struggled through words. She didn’t want to interrupt him; she knew him well enough to see when he needed to get through whatever he was trying to say himself.

“Apparently every single... _clone..._ had reacted this way, so Vader deemed them all failures. He deemed _me_ a failure.”

Juno wasn’t surprised to hear that, and the hands gripping her mug tightened.

“But you escaped?”

“Yes.” Galen’s face had gone a little red. “The memories...of you...they were strong enough that I couldn’t think of anything else. I just – just blasted a hole in the side of one of the cloning towers and stole a ship. The rest of my memories came back in bits and pieces.”

“You mean...memories of _me_ were strong enough that you decided to single-handedly escape an Imperial facility and track me across the galaxy?”

He looked at her, then, his expression almost shameful. “I...I didn’t want to mention it. I thought it might...”

“Might what?”

“Scare you off?”

Juno frowned. “It is a lot to take in,” she admitted, swirling the last of her caf round the bottom of her mug; contemplating what Galen had told her.

The Juno Eclipse of yesteryear, perhaps, might have recoiled from the truth and tried to push the revelations to the back of her mind; a life with Galen, she knew, would not be easy when combined with her life with the Rebel Alliance.

And yet, she saw Galen sitting across from her, earnest and true, and knew that there was nowhere else she would rather be – not just because he was willing to fight for her and follow her to the ends of the galaxy, but because she would gladly do the same for him in a heartbeat.

_That_ thought, admittedly, was a little terrifying, in addition to the knowledge that Galen practically traversed the entire galaxy simply to find her. Her own readiness to commit to whatever _this_ was – utterly terrifying.

“It won’t be easy,” she said, looking up at Galen and fixing him with a determined gaze. He blinked, momentarily hesitant.

“Well – in my experience, nothing good ever is. Not that – well. Not that there’s been a lot of good in my life so far. But you - you’re one of the best things that’s ever happened to me.”

Galen’s sincerity almost shocked Juno – he was miles away from the cold, reserved apprentice she had first met what felt a million years ago. He could barely make eye contact, then, but now he returned her gaze unflinchingly, openly.

Something deep, something old, was sparking and manifesting deep within her. _One bright spot,_ Kota had said, all those months ago in a small, battered hut on Kashyyyk. This was a feeling that Juno had never encountered before, yet she knew exactly what it was and the surety felt like the most natural thing in the world.

She set her now-empty mug down on the dashboard and reached over to Galen, placing a tentative hand over his. She felt the tension in his hand loosen slightly; saw his shoulders relax a little. She squeezed, putting pressure on the calloused hand underneath her own, and smiled.

“I know we have – bigger issues – on hand at the moment,” she began, “But. Whatever _this_ is, whatever we are – I’m with you. No matter what happens.”

Galen nods resolutely. “No matter what happens,” he repeated. “We’ve…got each other.”

Juno hoped that that will be enough to survive the coming days.

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr at itsacuriousthing!! or carrotycake! im always free to yell about the force unleashed, believe me....  
> comments and kudos also make my day, please tell me what you think <3


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